Endoscopic surgery is an area of surgery growing with staggering velocity. During such surgery, a camera and fiberoptics are utilized in combination with a myriad of modified tools, so as to make the procedure only minimally invasive. New procedures for such surgery are being rapidly developed and tested currently in the field.
While performing endoscopic surgery, the entire procedure is viewed from two video monitors. While conventional "open" surgery permits direct inspection and handling of organs and tissues, endoscopic surgery enables viewing only through the screen of the video monitor. For this reason, instructions and descriptions of the surgical field require either lengthy verbal descriptions or direct pointing at the video screen.
Verbal instructions are typically slow and inaccurate, especially in the teaching environment. Often, directions must be repeated frequently, such as "up, down, more to the right" etc. While pointing to the screen is quicker, and more accurate, the inventor has discovered that bacteria is transferred from the screen to the surgeon's glove by virtue of static electricity, even if the screen is not directly contacted. While the remainder of the surgical environment is sterile, the video screens are not, and the surgeon's gloves would then become contaminated.